Did I mention I don’t want to part with this book? It’s like saying goodbye to a new friend.

Enough about me. Before we get down to business, it would be an oversight if I forgot to note that clothing and lifestyle mecca Anthropologie have seen fit to include D.I.Y. Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch (Chronicle Books, $24.95) in its carefully curated book department. It’s not hard to see why: This is one gorgeous gift book.

Oh, and I should mention urban farming author Novella Carpenter‘s back cover blurb — where she lauds Barrington for leading the charge in the homemade food revolution. Sold?

If you’d like a sneak peek, check out this recipe on Barrington’s blog and this video promo, these clips are currently all the rage among publishers (this one is inspired and hilarious.)

To win a copy of D.I.Y. Delicious leave a comment below telling me about a D.I.Y. dish you’d like to learn how to cook — and why.

Oh this book sounds like so much Fun!
I have made my own kefir, bread, butter, and have canned and frozen foods from the garden. The pizza crust I made last night was pretty good too.
I want to make my own yogurt, cheese, and fermented veggies. I also would like to make my own crackers.
Keeping my fingers crossed!Viki´s last [type] ..My Food Revolution

How many hours do we have to discuss DIY stuff I want to make in the kitchen? Haha. I’d love to DIY ketchup and taste the difference between the one made with a few real ingredients and those that come in bottle from the store. Another one would be croissants…that is my holy baking grail!Joy´s last [type] ..Mighty Make-From-Scratch List or Mondo Beyondo Cooking Edition

Definitely would like to be able to make specialty breads and do some canning. I live in PHX though and pretty much hate the produce I have access to The why is because I love homemade things and the actual “art” of the preparation.Melanie B´s last [type] ..Wordless Wednesday-Honolulu Parade

Other than cooking a mean stir-fry, the only cooking I do is steaming veggies. Which is a downright shame, since I grow a huge chunk of my own fruits and veggies. I now have a freezer full of blackberries, summer squash, string beans and pesto (all right, someone did give me a recipe for that which I tried). I’m out of freezer space, so I borrowed three dehydrators and am now drying my tomato and apple surpluses. I also fermented up a batch of dill pickles from my excess cucs. But, what else am I going to do with all this food? Baking–that uses an oven, right? I spend so much time growing food and learning how to preserve it that I’m pretty clueless about how to actually cook it. My potluck buddies are getting tired of the same old fresh-food salads and steamed veggies. Surely, I could learn to do more with my produce! That’s why I’d love the cookbook.

There is no doubt that I it’s the diy cheese that has captured my imagination. I have even listed making my own cheese on a profile as a desired cooking goal. I admit it’s a Wisconsin childhood thing, but I swear I never wore a sponge cheese wedge on my head. And I’ll further admit that I was on a waitlist for 15 yearold Hooks cheddar from Wis. that I paid $75/lb and my 10 yearold son ate it without knowing….sorry, but when I read Vanessa’s cheese recipe, I was motivated and empowered. Cheese will be made here.sherri´s last [type] ..bloody mary turns sunny with heirlooms

I’d love to make DIY mozz to top the DIY pizza dough I make. And DIY yogurt as a home for the DIY granola that I turn out every week. And I’d really like to learn to make butter b/c my 8 year old keeps insisting it’s “so easy” after his 2nd grade class made a batch.

I need this cookbook to keep up with my D.I.Y husband! He seems to have been born with talents as wide-ranging as baking bread, making pickles and salsa and pesto and marinara…,building + maintaining a chicken coop and 10 chickens, and converting our 0.2 acre lot into the “Urban Ton Project” where he hopes to grow 2,000 lbs. of fresh food in Minnesota no less! (Story on our blog http://www.urbanton.com) The D.I.Y cookbook sounds like the perfect crash course for me in becoming a better D.I.Y. wife! :O)

Melanie, butter is actually pretty easy…while I do have an old paddle crank butter churn (which was great to take in to my daughter’s class for demo’s)
A food processor should work too.

I allowed heavy whipping cream to come to room temp. then it was just the agitation that turned the cream to butter. I let each child turn the crank and they made butter before all 24 had a turn, so some got to help press the butter with a spoon to get all the “buttermilk” out. It wasn’t real buttermilk, because it hadn’t soured.

Try it with a food processor…the key is to let the cream be at room temp.